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23.9.07

Liberal fuck.

I'm kinda a stereotype of social liberalism. Almost always I err on the side of acceptance and openness for everyone, I like off color and racist jokes, but find racism and homophobia pretty ridiculous. I like the idea of social medicine and I'm pro choice if you ask. I oppose capital punishment vehemently. I'm a goddamn liberal.

What I don't like is the remnant of the PC movement that still lies around. I hate whining and I hate blaming. I just got through as much as I could stomach of an NPR (yes, I donate) interview with a guy named Kevin Jennings who wrote a book about growing up gay and fundamentalist. At first it seems like the kind of thing I'd appreciate, but the interview was upsetting.

I feel for the guy on some level, but there was a tenor of "poor me" through out that made me wonder if every anecdote shared about the teasing he endured in school had more to do with his posture of a victim than with the idea that he was preyed on by children who smelled gay on him. It's possible to me that he was preyed on for being whiny and inclined to blame everyone else-his fundie parents, his gym teacher, his brother-for his problems. My favorite quote of the interview was to the effect that his parents implications that god and his deceased father knew his homosexual thoughts and the shame he felt for them was almost a kind of child abuse.

Kevin, you've accomplished some great things and I'm sure you're a wonderful writer, I question if you should be using all of that talent feeding the victim fire.

Sorry, it pissed me off. I had a shitty childhood, too. I'm not gay, and I still managed to get picked on and find some crappy fear of god. I hate christians and homophobes, too. I think there's a faulty premise blaming your sexual orientation and I think it's irresponsible to make that the criteria for your rotten childhood.

If we all just try really hard maybe everyone of us can write our shitty little stories and get that energy out in the world.